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Ted Jankowski
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This sounds great. The jobs created, Are they only during the remodeling project or Permanent? Was there any thought to where people would be parking? Would they have security watching the parking area?
There seems to be no place safe in Flint to park. When police cannot even protect the parking meters in front of the Police Dept. I'm not too encouraged to park anywhere down town. And, I'm being serious. This is not sarcasm or an attempt to be derogatory. I would be a nervous wreak, leaving my car in a parking lot, in a city parking space, at any time, let alone going down town for the evening, after dark.
This also sounds like a prime place to put up some camera surveillance. If they are going to do a complete remodel. I hope they consider putting up cameras. Not just in the store and restaurant. But, like white horse has. Where you can see what is going on in the parking lot.
My problem with annexing say part of Mt. Morris is. That it doesn't instill pride in Flint. In order to better ourselves as a City. We have to steal property from the suburbs. I believe if we where to do a complete overhaul of the Buick property. Do it as a casino/hotel/resort. We may have a chance at some real revitalization.
Every few years. Flint soaks us for revitalization of Down Town. Nothing seems to last very long. Riverbank Park was trashed the last time I went down there. The windmill place was cool. BUt it's in shambles. The river water falls don't work anymore. Nobody seems to want to maintain any of the projects. I'm curious to see how long the vehicle city lights will last.
We need something to bring a sense of Community. This city has been beat almost to death. I've read about when the brick streets where first laid. People of Flint volunteered to come down and help lay the brick. I'd like to see something with maybe bringing in "This Old House" to come in a supervise/assist with pulling up and renovating the brick streets. Have the whole city of whomever will volunteer to pull up the brick, Clean it. then with some good engineers and the remodeling masters, lay a new foundation, and reset the brick. Smooth out the street. City Maintenance can repair or replace pipe, or sewer lines. This is one of My very old ideas. We need something to bring the community together to get past race, and wealth and possibly work together for a better end.
The only problem I see is the Politics. I doubt the Mayor would be interested unless it would benefit him in some way. The thing is, it would. But not the way he has learned to use his position as Mayor to accomplish. I realize I'm sometimes an idealist. But wouldn't it really be great to have the whole community to come together for the benefit of the community and not to make this or that politician "look good." And not out there screaming “Look what I’ve done.” “I sign the checks.” Taking credit for things, he was forced to do.
Plus, how do you think it would look to people and businesses, outside of Flint. To read about how Flint came together as a community to redo their downtown streets. After it was finished, we could have one of those parties in the streets that they used to have downtown in the 40’s and 50’s. (http://www.flinthistory.com/features/theater/).
How did we go from such a great city the crap hole we are in now. I was saying in the 80’s before GM started its big downsizing, that Flint needed to change it’s focus. GM wasn’t going to be here forever. And we cannot expect the Mott Foundation to bail us out every couple of years. My idea then was to try to turn Flint into more of a College town. It only took Flint almost twenty years to start thinking that way. But, we haven’t heard anything about the real progress towards doing that. There was a article in the Journal a few years back. That Flint was going to start to move towards a College town. That won’t sustain Flint. But every little bit helps.
Flint can change. But, it takes Leadership! Someone to take the Bull by the horns and pull people together. Not wasting time putting down people you don’t agree with, or playing politics with Grant money, etc. Here is what Leadership IS!!
Dependability - the certainty of proper performance of duty.
Bearing - creating a favorable impression in carriage, appearance and personal conduct at all times.
Courage - the mental quality that recognizes fear of danger or criticism, but enables a man to proceed in the face of it with calmness and firmness.
Decisiveness - ability to make decisions promptly and to announce them in clear, forceful manner.
Endurance - the mental and physical stamina measured by the ability to withstand pain, fatigue, stress and hardship.
Enthusiasm - the display of sincere interest and exuberance in the performance of duty.
Initiative - taking action in the absence of orders.
Integrity - uprightness of character and soundness of moral principles; includes the qualities of truthfulness and honesty.
Judgment - the ability to weigh facts and possible solutions on which to base sound decisions.
Justice - giving reward and punishment according to merits of the case in question. the ability to administer a system of rewards and punishments impartially and consistently.
Knowledge - understanding of a science or an art. the range of one's information, including professional knowledge and an understanding of your marines.
Tact - the ability to deal with others without creating offense.
Unselfishness - avoidance of providing for one's own comfort and personal advancement at the expense of others.
Loyalty - the quality of faithfulness to country, the corps, the unit, to one's seniors, subordinates and peers.
Oops, I think that last one gave away where I learned this stuff. The hardest one for me is TACT. I usually start off pretty good. And it does take a few years of beating my head against the wall, writing letters and first attempting tact. But, when you run up against the “Elected Leaders” who lack Courage, Enthusiasm, Integrity, Judgment, Justice, Knowledge and Unselfishness. Where everything they seem to be doing has a personal $$ or polictial reason behind it. Instead of doing it because it's the best thing for the City. I fail to even consider using any tact. I could handle a leader or elected official lacking in two or three. But, not this many. BTW
Semper Fi. |
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Wed Mar 08, 2006 9:57 pm |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Yeahm you should rebuild first then expand. Also I read your comments on the state of the city adress, I noticed you siad where is the 500 block at, it is downtown, here is info on it.
Thanks, I was confused about that.
quote:
I think Williamson's land is in a better location for a casino. With a casino the number 1-3 things are location, location, location. Would we rather have a casino on annexed land or no casino. From the details of the project it seems are pretty clear.
OK, then what do we do with all the square miles of empty vacant, blighted, land that is open and available inside our city already?
That whole area from Hamilton to almost Pierson to I-475 and Saginaw st. Could possibly contain the whole thing. Well over half that area is already empty. My point is. Building in Mt. Morris doesn't rebuild Flint. It adds on. So we are still stuck with the Buick property wasteland. You've got at least 1 mile wide by three to start with. It could be extended out to I-475 or James P Cole. and Saginaw. building out there, Just leaves the center like a big donut whole. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of bringing back businesses to Flint? When the Genesee Valley opened it destroyed Downtown. Businesses left and people quit going downtown. Then the small businesses left the downtown. So we build another attraction that will draw more people and businesses out of Flint. That’s not the idea we really want. |
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Wed Mar 08, 2006 11:59 pm |
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rapunzel
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Thank You for you info on this, Guest.
The last thing this city needs is a gosh darn siphoning casino. The low income jobs will not outwiegh the money lost by taxpayers.
Only the house wins and the house is not the city.
RAP
quote:
Anonymous schreef:
Yeahm you should rebuild first then expand. Also I read your comments on the state of the city adress, I noticed you siad where is the 500 block at, it is downtown, here is info on it.
code:
With its temporary name of "The 500 Block Project", this development is mixed-use in every sense of the phrase. When finished, this building will house two restaurants, and nightclub, office space, and will even have 8 loft apartments on the top floor.
The building will be created by combining the former PSI building, the Carlton building, and Jewelry World, and adding floors to make all three of them four stories. After reconstruction Jewerly World will have a mostly glass facade and will contain catwalks connecting the other two buildings.
The first floor will be host to a brew pub and a Brazillian steakhouse. A nightclub will be located in the basement of the Carlton. The Blue Collar Gourmet (Redwood Lodge) is the group bringing these new dining spots to the project.
Rowe Incorporated - an engineering and surveying company (among other things) - will occupy the second and third floors for a combined 30,000 square feet of office space. Close to 100 employees of their 135 employees will be moved to the new offices. Their 10-year lease starts in June of 2006.
On the top floor of the complex, the eight apartments ranging from 1,500 to 2,500 sq. ft. will feature 18-foot high ceilings over the living area. Rental prices have not been released to the public as of yet.
Overall, the project is expected to create 100 jobs in addition to the jobs brought by Rowe. Interior demolition started at the beginning of February 2006.
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Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:07 am |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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rapunzel
I know of quite a few people that left Flint to work at the casinos. Also soe people in the trades that whe involved in building them. The ones working there are thrilled with the money they are making. It was enough to buy a VERY nice house, with land.
So I don't know about it being low income jobs. Probably working at the hotel in cleaning service. Yes. But not all the jobs are Low wage jobs. Security isn't, Dealers aren't, And like being a valet. Vegas Valets can make 100,000 a year, with tips. |
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Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:51 am |
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Adam
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To followup on this I think a casino in Flint might require a statewide ballot proposal now thanks to proposal 1. In addition i just found this articel about the mayors proposed development.
http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-35/1143381006310590.xml&coll=5
FLINT - Mayor Don Williamson says he was fleeced in a financial scam that helped stall his much-ballyhooed $200-million sports and entertainment complex in Mt. Morris Township, according to federal court records.
The court records give a peek at how Williamson lost millions in a failed loan, got some money back, and how he chased a group of financial brokers around the world, from Canada to the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
"He got duped," said University of Michigan law professor Adam Pritchard, a securities fraud expert who reviewed U.S. District Court records on behalf of The Flint Journal. The mayor did not speak to The Journal about the case.
The records may help explain why five years after the multimillionaire businessman unveiled plans that at various times included a casino, outdoor racetrack and indoor arena, only a pile of rubble exists at the I-75 and Mt. Morris Road site.
The lawsuit, settled late last year between Williamson and several brokers for $215,000, also details how the deal damaged his company, Sports Resorts International, whose stock price fell below $1 a share before being dropped from the Nasdaq stock exchange in January.
Williamson, 72, vowed to create thousands of jobs and invest millions in the development. He was met with skepticism by some residents and officials, citing the mayor's past plans for major projects, such as city-owned manufacturing facilities.
And the imposing pile of rubble has continued to be an irritant and a conversation piece to some locals.
"We haven't seen anything on that (project) in probably a year or so," said Genesee County Road Commission Manager-Director John H. Daly III.
That's because the project is on hold - and it's unclear for how long.
continued:
http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-35/1143381006310590.xml&coll=5&thispage=4
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Sun Mar 26, 2006 10:09 pm |
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| that's all we need parents gambling away children's lunch money in the casino! You bumped your heads! |
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Tue Mar 28, 2006 3:59 am |
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habeeb
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quote:
What lunch money???? Most ppl in Flint have their kids on FREE or reduced lunches anyway. Now if you're talking about Bridge cards, that's a whole nother story !!!!!!!!! 
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Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:07 am |
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Ted Jankowski
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I can see that the MLive crowd is stopping by. Serious lack of reasoning and intelligence.
The addition of a casino in Flint would not lead to all the ill's proclaimed by the NAYSAYERS! it brings many jobs across the whole spectrum. Hi Tech, Security, house cleaning service, restaurant etc. Not all are low paying jobs. And it doesn't, lead to poor people sending their welfare checks at the casino. It does however, lead to many well to do people loosing their shirts because they don't know when to leave the table. but, I'm not concerned with them. |
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Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:49 am |
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